Hinges that take to pieces

ABSTRACT

A hinge that takes to pieces, comprising a male and a female part which move around an axis. The male part comprises two retractable pivots which can be inserted into a corresponding housing in the female part. The pivots are separated by a compression spring. Each pivot is joined to a pin sliding in an oblong hole in the cylindrical body of the male part. This oblong hole has a slot to block the pin on each pivot in the locking position for taking the hinge to pieces.

United States Patent Ruiz [ 1 June 27, 1972 [541 HINGES THAT TAKE TO PIECES [72] Inventor: Jose Antonio Ruiz, 75 rue des Chantiers,

Le Havre Graville, France [22] Filed: Dec. 22, 1970 211 Appl. No.: 100,594

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 23, 1969 France ..6944681 [52] U.S.Cl ..16/176 [51] Int. Cl. ..E05d 1/06 [58] Field ofSearch ..l6/175, 176

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 464,201 12/1891 Rowland ..l6/176 UX Willmann ..l6/ 176 UX Langhorst ..16/l76 Primary ExaminerDonald A. Griffin Attorney-Saul Jecies s7 ABSTRACT A hinge that takes to pieces, comprising a male and a female part which move around an axis. The male part comprises two retractable pivots which can be inserted into a corresponding housing in the female part. The pivots are separated by a compression spring. Each pivot is joined to a pin sliding in an oblong hole in the cylindrical body of the male part. This oblong hole has a slot to block the pin on each pivot in the locking position for taking the hinge to pieces.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJum m2 3N 04m #M 30m W flu mNwI an INVENTOR. Jose Antonio Ruiz BY SAUL JECIES ATTORNEY.

HINGES THAT TAKE 'ro rrscss BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to a hinge which takes to pieces, of the type comprising a male and a female part which move around an axis, the male part having at least one retractable pivot adapted so that it can be inserted into a corresponding housing in the female part, enabling quick and easy assembly and dismantling of part or all of the hinge as well as the inexpensive production of a hinge.

In this hinge, the female part is made up of framework having a cavity for the male part, and adapted to receive at least one stop corresponding in shape to that of the cavity housed in the axis of the hinge, this stop being held in position by a crosspiece perforated opposite the housing for the stop, enabling the production of an interchangeable stop made of a hard or self-lubricating. material, without it being necessary to produce the whole female part in this material.

The cavity in the female part, perceptibly cylindrical in shape, terminates in two spherical ends, each receiving a stop, these. two stops being held in position by a common crosspiece and this cavity is a cylinder truncated along two planes parallel to the axis of the cavity and forming an angle, enabling the stops to be blocked in rotation.

In addition, the male part is made up of a fastener, at least one end of which terminates in a body adapted to fit into the cavity in the female part and having at least one retractable pivot adapted so that it can be inserted into the housing in a corresponding stop in the cavity, and the body terminating the male part comprises a perforation adapted to receive two pivots separated by a spring.

Lastly, the pivot is made up of a cylindrical body fitted with a peripheral grooveto enable the hinge to be taken to pieces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to create a hinge fitted with means to facilitate assembly and dismantling, and particularly the introduction of the cylindrical body into the cross-piece.

Another object of this invention is a hinge that takes to pieces, with automatic return.

1 For this purpose, the invention relates to a hinge in which each pivot comprises a projecting pin adapted so that it slides in the groove in the cylindrical body, the latter having at least one slot enabling the pin, and thus the pivot, to be blocked in a certain position, particularly. that in which the pivot is retracted.

In addition, the hinge is such that at least one of the pivots comprises a means for blocking these pivots in relation to the female part, at the same time leaving them free to rotate in relation to the female part, at the same time leaving them free to rotate in relation to the cylindrical body, means being provided to block the pivot in translation in relation to the hinge, as well as recall means to bring the male and female parts back into a specific relative position after the hinge is opened.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Hinges that take to pieces in accordance with the invention are shown as non-limiting examples in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of a method of producing a hinge in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 1B shows the shape of the slot seen from the right.

FIG. 2A is a sectional view along lines 2A 2A of the male part illustrated in FIG. 28.

FIG. 2B is a sectional view of the second method of producing a hinge in accordance with the invention.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION or PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The hinge in accordance with the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1A and IE; it is made up of a female part 221 and a male part 222 similar to those in the copending application Ser. No. 866,952 filed Oct. 16, I969.

However, in this embodiment the pivots 213a and 213b comprise two pins 214a and 2141: enabling the spring 14 separating the two pivots 213 to be compressed.

To facilitate assembly, provision has been made for groove 212 to be completed by two lateral slots 212a and 2121:, each to receive a pin 214a and 2141:.

In efi'ect, when the aforementioned pins are in cavities 212a and 212b, the pivots are retracted under the end surfaces of the cylindrical body 9, and this facilitates insertion of the latter into the cross-piece 6 already positioned in the female part 221.

When this positioning is effected, the parts 214 come out of the cavities 212, in such a way that the pivots 213 penetrate into the corresponding housings in stops 5:: and 5b.

Lastly, in accordance with this embodiment, theshape of stops 5a and 5b may be modified asshown by dotted lines to enable the displacement of pivots 213a and 213!) towards the edge of the female part 221.

In accordance with a variation embodiment, a hook 215 is provided, for hooking pins into the compression position of spring 14, this hook replacing cavities 212a and 212k.

Lastly, in accordance with another variation, pivots 213a and 2l3b may have a lower end fitted with a pin and an upper end truncated in the same shape as the stop, and this makes this portion of the part fixed. In this way, the male part articulates in a different place from where it articulated previously.

Another method of producing a hinge in accordance with the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B. This embodiment relates to a hinge allowing the automatic return of the leaf on which it is assembled.

For this purpose, pivots 313a and 31312 are produced in such a way that they can no longer pivot in stops 305a and 305b, but turn in relation to the cylindrical body.

To do this, the upper parts of the stops are truncated along a I surface 313, 313'a and 313b, the upper end instops each pivot coming to lodge in a correspondingly-shaped cavity in stops 305a and 305i). I V

The two pivots 313a and 3l3b are separated by two com pression'springs 314a and 314b, each end of the spring being joined to the non-truncated part of the corresponding pivot 313; the other end of the spring is connected to a blocking pin inserted in the cavity in the cylindrical body 9.

As the non-truncated part of pivot 313 can turn freely in the corresponding cavity in the cylindrical body 9 and blocking component 315 is fixed in rotation, andif need be also in translation, in relation to the cylindrical body 9, a thrust is obtained that holds a truncated part of pivot 313 in its corresponding housing in stop 305 and a recall lead for bringing back the two components on which'the hingeis fixed to a specific position.

As this lead acts in both directions of rotation of the male and female parts, one in relation to the other, it would be sufiicient to use only one recall spring mounted as indicated hereinabove in the cylindrical body 9.

However, to reinforce the action of this spring, a second spring 314 may be provided, mounted like the first, symmetrically to link it to the other pivot (FIG. 2B).

In accordance with another variation, it would be possible to join the two pivots by a compression spring whose ends are fixed to the non-truncated parts of the two pivots 313a and 3l3b in such a way that one pivot rests against the other, one turning in relation to the male part, the other in relation to the female.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the cylindrical body 9 has been provided with a groove 12 enabling the hinge to be taken to pieces, as described in the embodiment in copending application Ser. No. 866,952. In effect, pivots 313 are likewise provided with a groove 15 allowing a grip-hold for pliers or a similar tool for taking the hinge to pieces.

In accordance with a variation embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A and 2B, the blocking components 315a and 3151; have been linked to a guide-component 316 over which a symmetrical hooking component 317 slides, it's ends being fitted with pins or forks 318a and 318b that lodge in groove on the pivots when the latter are in the retracted position.

It should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described and presented hereinabove; from these it is possible to foresee other forms and embodiments which in no way exceed the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A hinge that takes to pieces, comprising a male and a female part which move around an axis, the male part comprising two retractable pivots which can be inserted into a corresponding housing in the female part, the female part comprising a framework having a cavity to house the male part and adapted to receive two stops, each stop having a housing in the axis of the hinge and being held in position by a cross-piece perforated opposite the housing for the stop, each cylindrical cavity in the female part terminating in two spherical ends each receiving a stop, these two stops being held in position by the common cross-piece, the male part being made up of a fastener terminated by a body lodging in the cavity in the female part and having at each end a retractable pivot adapted so that it can be inserted into the housing in the corresponding stop, the male part having a perforation receiving the two pivots which are separated by a spring and each pivot comprising a projecting pin adapted to slide in the groove on the cylindrical body, the latter having at least one slot for blocking each pin of each pivot in a blocking position and in a position in which the pivot is retracted.

2. A hinge that takes to pieces in accordance with claim 1, in which the groove is oblong-shaped and has at its sides and near its middle a slot of perccptibly the same width as the pin in order to allow this pin to be blocked in the corresponding position.

3. A hinge that takes to pieces, comprising a male and a female part which move around an axis, the male part comprising two retractable pivots which can be inserted into a corresponding housing in the female part, the female part comprising a framework having a cavity to house the male part and adapted to receive two stops, each stop having a housing in the axis of the hinge and being held in position by a cross-piece perforated opposite the housing for the stop, each cylindrical cavity in the female part terminating in two spherical ends each receiving a stop, these two stops being held in position by the common cross-piece, the male part being made up of a fastener terminated by a body lodging in the cavity in the female part and having at each end a retractable pivot adapted so that it can be inserted into the housing in the corresponding stop, the male part having a perforation receiving the two pivots which are separated by a spring, at least one of the pivots having a means for blocking the pivot in relation to the female part; at the same time leaving it free to rotate in relation to the hinge, as well as recall means to bring back the male and female parts into a specific relative position after the hinge is opened.

4. A hinge in accordance with claim 3, in which at least one of the pivots has a truncated part coming to be housed in a correspondingly-shaped cavity in the stop, the part of the pivot free to rotate in the cylindrical body being connected to a recall component resting against the cylindrical body.

5. A hinge that takes to pieces in accordance with claims 3, in which the recall component and the blocking component are made up of a single helicoidal spring, one end of which is attached to the non-truncated part of the pivot and the other to a component blocked in rotation and, if need be, in translation in the cylindrical body.

6. A hinge that takes to pieces in accordance with claim 3, in which the non-truncated parts of the two pivots are connected by a helicoidal spring, each end of this spring being attached to the corresponding non-truncated part of the pivot.

7. A hinge that takes to pieces in accordance with claim 3, in which the components blocked in rotation and in translation in the cylindrical body, and serving as a support for the compression and pivot recall spring, are attached to a guiderod on which slides a component whose ends are filled with pins or forks to lodge in a corresponding groove in the nontruncated part of the pivots in order to block the latter in their retracted position in the cylindrical body.

# i i t I 

1. A hinge that takes to pieces, comprising a male and a female part which move around an axis, the male part comprising two retractable pivots which can be inserted into a corresponding housing in the female part, the female part comprising a framework having a cavity to house the male part and adapted to receive two stops, each stop having a housing in the axis of the hinge and being held in position by a cross-piece perforated opposite the housing for the stop, each cylindrical cavity in the female part terminating in two spherical ends each receiving a stop, these two stops being held in position by the common crosspiece, the male part being made up of a fastener terminated by a body lodging in the cavity in the female part and having at each end a retractable pivot adapted so that it can be inserted into the housing in the corresponding stop, the male part having a perforation receiving the two pivots which are separated by a spring and each pivot comprising a projecting pin adapted to slide in the groove on the cylindrical body, the latter having at least one slot for blocking each pin of each pivot in a blocking position and in a position in which the pivot is retracted.
 2. A hinge that takes to pieces in accordance with claim 1, in which the groove is oblong-shaped and has at its sides and near its middle a slot of perceptibly the same width as the pin in order to allow this pin to be blocked in the corresponding position.
 3. A hinge that takes to pieces, comprising a male and a female part which move around an axis, the male part comprising two retractable pivots which can be inserted into a corresponding housing in the female part, the female part comprising a framework having a cavity to house the male part and adapted to receive two stops, each stop having a housing in the axis of the hinge and being held in position by a cross-piece perforated opposite the housing for the stop, each cylindrical cavity in the female part terminating in two spherical ends each receiving a stop, these two stops being held in position by the common cross-piece, the male part being made up of a fastener terminated by a body lodging in the cavity in the female part and having at each end a retractable pivot adapted so that it can be inserted into the housing in the corresponding stop, the male part having a perforation receiving the two pivots which are separated by a spring, at least one of the pivots having a means for blocking the pivot in relation to the female part; at the same time leaving it free to rotate in relation to the hinge, as well as recall means to bring back the male anD female parts into a specific relative position after the hinge is opened.
 4. A hinge in accordance with claim 3, in which at least one of the pivots has a truncated part coming to be housed in a correspondingly-shaped cavity in the stop, the part of the pivot free to rotate in the cylindrical body being connected to a recall component resting against the cylindrical body.
 5. A hinge that takes to pieces in accordance with claims 3, in which the recall component and the blocking component are made up of a single helicoidal spring, one end of which is attached to the non-truncated part of the pivot and the other to a component blocked in rotation and, if need be, in translation in the cylindrical body.
 6. A hinge that takes to pieces in accordance with claim 3, in which the non-truncated parts of the two pivots are connected by a helicoidal spring, each end of this spring being attached to the corresponding non-truncated part of the pivot.
 7. A hinge that takes to pieces in accordance with claim 3, in which the components blocked in rotation and in translation in the cylindrical body, and serving as a support for the compression and pivot recall spring, are attached to a guide-rod on which slides a component whose ends are filled with pins or forks to lodge in a corresponding groove in the non-truncated part of the pivots in order to block the latter in their retracted position in the cylindrical body. 